2013 Rhys "Alpine Vineyard" Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir

SKU #124199995 points
Decanter

It was Jeremy Seysses of Burgundy’s Domaine Dujac who alerted me to the amazing things that Kevin Harvey and his team at Rhys are doing, and that seems appropriate as the wines certainly seem to nod to Dujac’s style. The 2013 Alpine Vineyard Pinot Noir is one of the most compelling young wines I’ve tasted from Rhys. Its youthful and savoury bouquet of crisp red and black cherry, fresh herbs, cinnamon and rich forest floor is followed on the palate by a wine of impressive vibrancy and depth. Rhys wines are built for the cellar, and the handful of older bottles I’ve encountered suggests that patience really is rewarded. Drinking Window 2021 - 2045 (WK)

95 points
John Gilman

The 2013 Alpine Vineyard bottling this year from Rhys is another truly exceptional example of the vintage and this wine is a cellar treasure in the making. Like many of the other 2013 pinots here, there is a musky sappiness on the nose that is truly stunning (and has not really been seen here in previous vintages), with the wine delivering a gorgeous aromatic constellation of sweet dark berries, black cherries, espresso, complex, dark soil tones, fresh thyme, exotic spice tones and a deft framing of cedar. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and sappy at the core, with great structure, fine-grained tannins, bright acids and outstanding length and grip on the pure and nascently complex finish. A great, great wine in the making, and a bit easier to resist out of the blocks than the 2013 Skyline, which will make it far less likely to be slaughtered by premature opening! (Drink between 2021-2050) 95+
(7/2015)

94 points
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2013 Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard has a touch of darker fruit in its strawberry, cassis, dusty soil and earthy bouquet. This flows to a beautifully textured, seamless Pinot Noir that has sound underlying structure, medium plus-bodied richness and a great finish. Possessing both fruit and structure, it should be accessible for all of its life. (JD)
(10/2015)

Here too there is a pronounced floral character to the slightly riper aromas of various red berries, in particular currant, along with hints of sandalwood and Asian-style tea. The lilting and wonderfully refined medium weight flavors exude a fine bead of minerality on the dusty, vibrant, restrained and equally understated finish. There is a touch of backend austerity and like the Alpine Hillside, this sleekly muscular effort is going to require extended bottle age to realize its full potential. *Outstanding*
(4/2016)

2013 Rhys "Alpine Vineyard" Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir

Real Time Inventory by location:

The item you have chosen is in stock, and there is inventory in our main warehouse. Below is the current quantity on hand information for this product within our database. It is never more than five minutes old. Additionally, our shopping cart looks at real time inventory so when you add an item to you cart we will do an immediate check of available inventory and alert you if there are any issues.

Location

Qty

Main Warehouse:

3

Product turnaround time varies by location of inventory and your chosen method of
shipping/pickup. For a detailed explanation click
here.

Product Reviews:

Additional Information:

Varietal:

Pinot Noir

- One of France's most legendary grapes and the grape that earned Burgundy its reputation. The parent of varietals like Pinot Gris/Grigio and Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir is blue to violet to indigo in color with relatively thin skins, and it is said to have been cultivated in France for more than 2,000 years. At its best, Pinot Noir creates elegant wines that are filled with primary red fruit aromas and flavors while young, revealing with an array of secondary characteristics like earth, smoke, violet, truffle and game with age. The varietal is also known, perhaps better than any, for its ability to translate terroir, or a sense of place. While the best Pinot Noir still comes from Burgundy, it is being produced with increasing success in cooler climates around the world. In France, it is part of the trifecta of grapes that can go into Champagne, and it is also grown in Alsace, Irancy, Jura, Savoie, Lorraine and Sancerre. Outside of France it is produced under the names Pinot Nero and Blauburgunder in Italy's mountainous regions, as Spätburgunder in Germany and as Blauburgunder in Austria. In the US, Pinot Noir has found suitable growing conditions in the cooler parts of California, including Carneros, the Russian River Valley, the Anderson Valley, the Sonoma Coast, Monterey County, the Santa Lucia Highlands and Santa Barbara County, as well as in Oregon's Willamette Valley. In recent years, New Zealand has demonstrated its ability to interpret this hard-to-grow varietal, with successful bottlings coming from careful and attentive growers in Central Otago, Martinborough and Canterbury. Chile is also an up-and-coming region for Pinot Noir, creating fresh, fruit-forward, early-drinking and affordable Pinots from the coastal Casablanca Valley and the Limari Valley.

Country:

United States

- When people consider domestic wine, they normally think about the state of California. The fine viticultural Region within California, including the Napa Valley, Sonoma, Santa Cruz Mountains, Mendocino and Santa Barbara, are capable of growing grapes of world-class quality. But there's plenty of fabulous wine coming from other states, too. Oregon, Washington and New York are also causing eyebrows (and glassware) to be raised around the world.

Sub-Region:

California

- With the explosive growth that California's wine industry has seen the past several years, it's easy to view winemaking and grape growing in the Golden State as a recent phenomenon. And while it's true that California's viticultural history is brief compared to several European countries, this state's roots date back well over 200 years. Due to the enormous response to California wine within the United States and worldwide, there are thousands of excellent and diverse wines being produced within the state each year.

Specific Appellation:

Santa Cruz Mountains

- Vineyards dot the valleys and ridges of this coastal AVA just south of San Francisco. Microclimates make it difficult to generalize, and vineyards are frequently separated by acres of forests and meadowlands (not to mention entire towns!), but this is nonetheless known as a cooler-climate zone ideal for pinot noir. Ridge is doubtless the most famous local producer, with its cabernet blend, Monte Bello, named after a Santa Cruz mountain peak. High-quality, low-production chardonnay and some Rhône varietals prosper as well.